


Dangan Ronpa: Rediscovery Despair

by Instrumentalist



Category: Dangan Ronpa, Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Original, Dangan Ronpa & Super Dangan Ronpa 2 Spoilers, Dangan Ronpa 3 Spoilers, Dangan Ronpa: Another Episode Spoilers, Fangan Ronpa, Gen, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2017-02-01
Packaged: 2018-09-13 15:55:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9131338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Instrumentalist/pseuds/Instrumentalist
Summary: The incoming class of Hope's Peak Academy wakes up inside a winter lodge in an unknown location. What awaits them? Well, only a Lodge Life of Mutual Killing, of course!





	1. Prologue: Remastering Ultimate Acquaintance

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Dangan Ronpa: Forever Despair](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1920717) by [Kitt_Monroe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kitt_Monroe/pseuds/Kitt_Monroe). 



> Unlike Kitt_Monroe's masterfully written Forever Despair, this will be written as a traditional story instead of a script. Trial mechanics will still be in place, and your active participation is encouraged!

I’d always dreamed of going to Hope’s Peak. Ever since I was little. The idea of being amongst the Ultimates, the best of my generation, was something that regularly kept me up at night when I was supposed to be asleep. I was what you would call in my town a Hope’s Peak junkie—mainly because my town didn’t like Hope’s Peak one bit. I loved it, though, no matter how many times they tried to drill it into my head that it was an elitist school for elitists, by elitists, of elitists. So what?! Isn’t elitism something to cultivate when you’re looking for the greatest high-schoolers in the country? In the _world?!_

Oh, I’ve completely forgotten to introduce myself! Sorry, when I start talking Hope’s Peak, I ramble and ramble. It’s a bit of a problem. The name is Chiba, Chiba Ami! I’m a 17-year-old girl who’s super into video games, manga, and of course, the one and only Hope’s Peak Academy. I was born on September 8th, and I’m exactly 155 centimeters tall! But enough about little details, back to Hope’s Peak rambling!

I also knew I was all but _destined_ to get accepted to Hope’s Peak. See, I had what they would call _Super High-School Level Good Luck._

 

**千葉 亜美**

**超高校級の「幸運」**

**CHIBA AMI: SUPER HIGH-SCHOOL LEVEL GOOD LUCK**

 

Not just your everyday “Oh-hey-I-found-a-penny-on-the-sidewalk” luck, I’m talking about _good luck._ The kind of luck that you have to be lucky to even _get._ I had _that_ kind of luck. Sure, I have my share of bad days, but most of the time, I’m sent manna from the heavens in the form of _holy-shit-that-was-so-lucky._ For example, once, I had left my house without taking my key with me. I live alone, so this was a major issue, right? The closest person who had a spare was at the airport, about to leave for an international flight _,_ and there was no way I could reach them before I had to be home, because I live in a really shady area of town, and if you’re not indoors by dusk… bad stuff happens. _But,_ despite this, despite the fact that I was locked out of my house and my key was sitting on the dining room table where I’d left it, I got lucky in a _big_ way. On my way back, I was trying to figure out how I was gonna get in without tripping my burglar alarm (since if anything was forcibly opened, it was set to immediately go off), and what should happen? My friend with the spare called and said that his flight ended up being _cancelled_ due to adverse weather, and he could come unlock my door! You may not think that this is a big deal, but trust me, it is. Getting locked out in my neighbourhood is high up on the list of Things You Don’t Want to Happen. If his flight hadn’t been cancelled… I don’t even wanna think about it.

Point is, I have some damn good luck, and I know it. Turned out, so did Hope’s Peak. I got my acceptance letter a few months ago, welcoming me into my new class as the Ultimate Lucky Student. I had never been more pumped in my _life._ This was the culmination of _years_ of dreaming, surviving, getting on their radar, all the jazz that goes into becoming an Ultimate. People always say the Ultimate Lucky Student is the bottom of the food chain at Hope’s Peak, since luck isn’t something you cultivate like the other talents, but I disagree. Luck can be cultivated, just differently. You can’t get lucky if you don’t try to _be_ lucky. You have to open yourself to the opportunities luck presents, and the more you do, the bigger your luck gets. I just so happened to grow the biggest luck of my whole class.

So, on the first day of classes, I arrived at Hope’s Peak, and without a second thought, I stepped forward onto the campus. The central building towered over me like a beacon of raw, undiluted power, and it hit me that _I was in Hope’s Peak._ Holy shit. I was about to take my first classes as a Hope’s Peak Ultimate. I was about to meet the best of the best, to become friends with the elite, to learn alongside the giants of the future. I. Was. _Pumped._

But, as I took my second step, and my third, my vision started to go… strange. The building blurred and twisted before me, and the corners of my vision started to go dark. I felt like I was detaching from my body. My legs kept moving, but I didn’t feel myself moving them. I felt like I was starting to float out of my body. Then, everything faded to black.

* * *

When I woke up, it felt very strange. I was… in a bed? With sheets and a blanket? Well, that ruled out this place being home. No chance of it being a pre-first-day stress dream.

I opened my eyes, and I was greeted with the sight of a room that seemed to be made out of wood. It was warmly lit by a large yellow light in the ceiling, and it was filled by the bed I was in, a desk with a chair up and to my left, and a small sofa up and to my right. Directly on the other side of my bed was a matching wooden door.

Groggily, I pulled myself out of bed _(which was really hard because oh my god these sheets were soft)_ , and I opened the door.

To my surprise, someone was on the other side of it, just about to knock.

“Ah!” she jumped. “You’re awake!”

Her unexpected appearance at my door jolted me fully awake. “Oh! Um, yeah, I guess I am!”

“Well—that’s good,” she said, brushing a stray lock of brown hair out of her face. “I was just about to come wake you myself.” She pushed her frameless glasses into place on the bridge of her nose and adjusted a clipboard she was holding in the crook of her right arm. “You are Chiba Ami, correct? My name is Azaki Erana.”

 

**鮮気 豪南**

**超高校級の「医者」**

**AZAKI ERANA: SUPER HIGH-SCHOOL LEVEL PHYSICIAN**

 

 _Azaki Erana is a new name in the field of medicine, but it’s growing quickly. She’s a child prodigy, born to a couple of wicked-smart doctors, but she’s gone on to be smarter than both of them. She spends most of her time working, so her social media is pretty slow, and you have to go to the forums to find anything really noteworthy about her. Nobody knows very much about what she’s like outside of her work, but they seem to think she’s at least somewhat friendly._  
****

She extended her hand. It took me a second to shake back—I wasn’t used to shaking with my left hand. “Y-yeah, that’s me! Chiba Ami, lucky as they come!”

“So you’re the Ultimate Lucky Student?” She pulled a pen out of her lapel pocket and started scribbling something on the clipboard. “The one person we knew would be among us. Everybody else is a veritable mystery so far.”

“Uh, yeah, I’m the Luckster of my year,” I said. “And you’re…?”

“Oh! My apologies. I’m the Ultimate Physician.”

I smacked my forehead. “Oh! Right! Azaki, I knew that name was familiar! You’re in my class!”

“Um, yes, I am,” she said, like it was obvious. Well, it _was,_ I was just being dense right now. “As far as I know, everyone else here is a member of the class as well.”

“Oh, okay. Sorry, I just, I wasn’t entirely sure, since, y’know, the whole doctor’s coat and clipboard thing—”

“It’s understandable,” she said, cutting me off. “Don’t worry about it.” She put away her pen. “I suppose I should move on and see if anyone else needs waking.”

“Hey, mind if I tag along?” I asked. “I’ve never met any of these people before, and it might get awkward if it’s just me…”

She looked a little surprised by the request. “…Certainly. I don’t see why not.”

After a brief moment, she set off down the hall, and I followed close behind, taking in my surroundings. “More yellow lights, more wood… what kind of place is this?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I’ve only been awake a few minutes so far. You’re as lost as I am.”

“That’s good to hear, I guess…”

She stopped in front of the door immediately to the right of mine. “This is, erm—Anchi Arisu’s room,” she said, reading the nameplate next to the door. “I don’t recall her talent off the top of my head.”

She rapped lightly on the door. “Anchi-san? Are you awake?”

There was some rustling behind the door, then: “Who’re you an’ wha’ th’fuck y’want?”

“I-I’m just checking to see if you were awake,” Azaki-san said.

“Well I am now!” Anchi-san slurred, opening the door with a sharp jerk. “And who th’hell’re _you,_ exactly?”

 

**黯血 ありす**

**超高校級の「酒造家」**

**ANCHI ARISU: SUPER HIGH-SCHOOL LEVEL BREWER**

 

_You probably haven’t heard of Anchi Arisu unless you follow the Hope’s Peak forums or you’re a fan of beer. She’s part of a famous family of brewers that make some of the most popular beer in the country, and she’s surpassed them to the point that their home-brewed beer is being exported to Europe and the United States. Unfortunately, this comes with an attitude problem, and she’s got a reputation for being a bit of a jerk to pretty much anybody in her path._

 

“I-I’m Azaki Erana, Ultimate Physician,” Azaki-san stammered, extending her hand. Anchi-san simply continued glaring at her. “Well then, erm, I was just stopping by to see if you were awake or not.”

“I am _now,”_ Anchi-san growled. “Like I _just said.”_

I scowled at her. “What’s _your_ deal?”

She swiveled her head towards me. “In case you haven’t noticed, buttercup, I was in the middle of _sleeping!”_

“Okay, fine, but you don’t have to be a jerk just ‘cause you got woken up!”

She slammed the door shut.

Azaki-san readjusted her glasses. “That could’ve gone better.”

I sighed, crossing my arms. “Yeah. Really.”

We had turned and moved on to the next door before I remembered something.

“Oh! I remember Anchi-san’s talent.”

“Really? What is it?”

“She’s the Ultimate Brewer. Her talent revolves around brewing beer.”

“That could explain her demeanour,” Azaki-san sighed, scribbling something down. “Perhaps she was nursing a hangover of some sort.”

“Or maybe she just really hates being woken up.”

“We’ll see.” She checked the next nameplate. “Sanma Kotomi. Alright…” She knocked on the door. “Sanma-san, are you awake?”

After a short silence, the door cracked open, and one bright green eye peeked out at us. “Who are you?”

 

**算間 異身**

**超高校級の「建築家」**

**SANMA KOTOMI: SUPER HIGH-SCHOOL LEVEL ARCHITECT**

 

_Sanma Kotomi’s quickly becoming a big name. She’s been commisioned to come up with new designs for several prominent Japanese landmarks, including some updates to the Imperial Palace, which is a pretty monumental offer (Get it, monumental?). She’s something of a hermit, from what I’ve read, and doesn’t really like talking to people that much. A lot of people on the forums make it a hobby to try and find interviews with her on the web, with very little luck._

 

“My name is Azaki Erana,” Azaki-san said, “and this is Chiba Ami.”

“Hi!” I said, trying my best to not appear awkward.

The green eye narrowed. “…Ultimate Physician and Lucky Student, correct?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Azaki-san said.

The door opened more fully, and Sanma-san stepped outside. She was a few centimeters taller than me, but not quite Azaki’s height, and her bright green eyes were contrasted by jet-black hair. “Hmm. Not what I expected, if I’m being honest.” She looked around. “And where is this, exactly?”

“Well, if we’re being honest, we don’t know either,” Azaki-san said. “We’re just waking people up right now.”

Sanma-san frowned subtly. “Speaking from experience, you might want to find something less disruptive to busy yourself with.”

And with that, she turn on one heel and walked away down the other end of the hall.

“So far, I’m not getting a very friendly vibe,” I said.

“That’s Ultimates for you,” Azaki-san huffed. “Unless they’re Lucksters, that is. Those are the only ones I’ve met who seem to have a healthy sense of ego.”

“I don’t know how I should feel about that.”

“I wouldn’t dwell on it.”

We moved down, but before we could reach the next door, it swung open, and a tan guy wearing a gaudy holiday sweater came charging out. “Whoa!!” He skidded to a stop right in front of Azaki-san, grinning ear to ear. “Hey! What’s up, Doc?”

“Um—h-hello,” Azaki-san stuttered, quickly glancing at the nameplate of his door, “erm, Ojiro Hideo-san.”

His grin, somehow, widened. “Wow! You already know my name? That’s super sweet of you!”

 

**小城 偉生**

**超高校級の「スキーヤー」**

**OJIRO HIDEO: SUPER HIGH-SCHOOL LEVEL SKIER**

 

_Ojiro Hideo is the younger of the Ojiro twins, who were both accepted this year, and who are both mega-sports people. Hideo’s talent is skiing, but he loves any winter sport you can throw at him. He’s also a super-friendly guy, from what I’ve seen on his social media. He constantly hangs out with his fans and plays hockey and such with them, even though he always unintentionally steals the spotlight. All in all, he appears to be one of the friendlier people in our class._

 

“I gotta say, it’s a pleasure to meet you, um…” he frowned in concentration. “Um… Ah, dammit, I’m totally blanking on your name.”

“Azaki. Azaki Erana.”

“Oh! Right!” he laughed, extending his hand. “Sorry, I’m awful at names, but I’m great with faces.”

Azaki-san hesitantly shook his hand. “I’m, er, I’m sure we’ll figure it out in time.”

“For sure. Hey, by the way, what’s your talent? I’m the Ultimate Skier.”

“I’m the Ultimate Physician.”

“Oh! Right! Right, right, right, that’s why you’ve got the whole doctor get-up going on.” He paused for a moment, then suddenly noticed that I was a person existing in the same vicinity as Azaki-san and himself. “Oh, wow, I totally didn’t see you there! Name’s Ojiro Hideo!”

He thrust his hand out again, and like Azaki-san, I had to shake myself back into movement to accept it. “H-Hi. I’m Chiba Ami.”

“Ooo! Chiba Ami-san, that’s a nice name!” he enthused. “What’s your talent?”

“I’m the Luckster this year.”

_“Nice!_ I always wanted to be a Luckster, but I got caught up in skiing before I really knew what I was doing.” He laughed again, scratching the back of his head. “Then again, my luck was never really anything special, so I guess this was always gonna be my ticket into Hope’s Peak.” He glanced behind him. “Hey, do you guys happen to know where my big sis is?”

“Um… no,” I said.

“Huh.” He frowned a little, looking around. “I could’ve sworn she was nearby…”

The door after his swung open, and a girl about my height, equally as tan as Ojiro-san, came bounding out like a streak of light, before also jerking to a halt right in front of us. _“There_ you are, Hideo-kun! Jeez, you had me worried for a sec there!”

“Oh, come on, Shijima-chan, you _had_ to’ve heard me talking to these guys!” Ojiro-san complained.

“You’ve made me too deaf to hear you properly, bro, especially through these walls!” She turned to face us. “Hiya! I’m Ojiro Shijima!”

 

**小城 しじま**

**超高校級の「走者」**

**OJIRO SHIJIMA: SUPER HIGH-SCHOOL LEVEL RUNNER**

 

_Ojiro Shijima is shaping up to be Japan’s ticket to the gold in the Olympics, at least in track. She’s usually a sprinter, but she can still blow away her competition in long-distance running. She’s constantly on social media, talking about her training routine and runs she’s planning on doing, which she always invites her fans to join her on. I never really got the point behind people trying to keep up with her, but I guess it’s the thought that counts._

 

“I’m the Ultimate Runner!” Before any of us could say anything, she held up a finger and said, “Wait, no, hold on, I got this.” She pointed at Azaki-san. “You’re Azaki Erana-san, Ultimate Physician,” she pointed at me, “and you’re Chiba Ami-san, Ultimate Lucky Student. Am I right?!”

“Um, yes, you’re right,” Azaki-san said, looking a little overwhelmed.

_“Yes!”_ Shijima-san crowed. “I knew I was still on it!”

“Sis has the memory gene,” Hideo-san said with a tired smile.

“Well, it was nice to bump into you guys, but I’m kinda stoked to figure out where the heck we are!” Shijima-san said. “C’mon, little man, let’s explore!”

Grabbing him by the wrist, she yanked Hideo-san away and started sprinting down the hall as he cried, “Ow! Sis, let go, I can walk myself!”

We just sort of stood in stunned silence for a moment after that.

“An… interesting pair,” Azaki-san eventually said.

“Yeah,” I laughed awkwardly. “Not something you see every day.”

“…So, that makes six of us accounted for,” she said, looking at her clipboard, “out of sixteen, so we have ten more left to find.” She looked at the doors in the hall. “But it seems that was the last door in this hall.”

“So we should follow everyone else and see where the other rooms are?”

“I suppose…” she said reluctantly. “But I was hoping we wouldn’t have to go on a scavenger hunt to find everyone.”

We left the hall and entered a big main corridor that led to what looked like… a lobby? Like a lobby you see in a hotel? Except most hotel lobbies weren’t all wooden floors and walls, and they didn’t usually have fireplaces like that.

“Is this some sort of lodge?” I wondered aloud.

“I think that must be the case,” Azaki-san agreed. “Wood motifs, warm colours, a fireplace in the back, those are all indicative of a lodge.”

“Huh. Cozy, I guess.”

Someone nearby said, “It’s too big to be cozy.”

We turned around to find the source of the voice, and found it sitting in a big plush red couch near the fireplace. She was even shorter than me, it looked like—although maybe it was the huge couch making her look that small. “Cozy is smaller than this,” she continued. “This room is too big for that, it’s too hard to keep the feel.” She looked up. “Hi. I’m Nori Miya.”

 

**法 雅**

**超高校級の「作曲家」**

**NORI MIYA: SUPER HIGH-SCHOOL LEVEL COMPOSER**

 

_Nori Miya is the new face of the classical music world. She’s being lauded as bringing back a dying genre to the spotlight, composing hundreds of pieces that manage to resonate even with people who hate that sort of music. She’s a big-time wallflower, though, and she never gives live performances. All of her music is shared on forums for only ten yen a song, and other than her music profile, she’s a ghost._

 

“Oh!” I exclaimed. “I know you! You’re the Ultimate Composer!”

“I’m not surprised,” she sighed morosely. “Pretty much everybody’s heard of me at some point.”

I frowned, confused. “Why the long face about it?”

“Nothing special,” she said, curling up further on the couch. “I’m used to it.”

“Used to what?”

She didn’t reply.

“Well… okay…”

I looked at Azaki-san worriedly. “Is she okay?”

Azaki-san shrugged. “How would I know? We’ve only just met her.”

“But aren’t you the Ultimate Physician?”

“Yes, but not the Ultimate Therapist!”

Reluctantly, we let Nori-san be and moved on through the lobby.

As we passed the front desk, a pale guy in a bright green plaid coat popped out from behind like a jack-in-the-box. “Have either of you lovely ladies found a notepad in your travels so far?”

“Eek!” I yelped, jumping back.

“Oh! Sorry!” he laughed awkwardly. “Didn’t mean to startle you so badly.”

“I-It’s fine,” I lied, smoothing down my shirt. “I-I just scare easily.”

“Well, in any case, sorry to make a bad first impression on you both,” he apologised. “But I am looking for a notepad, so if you find one before I do, please let me know.”

“Wait!” Azaki-san said before he could disappear. “If you want to make a better first impression, a name usually helps.”

“Oh! Of course, where are my manners?” He offered his hand to Azaki-san. “I’m Jackson Carmeil.”

 

**カーマイル ジャクソン**

**超高校級の「製図家」**

**CARMEIL JACKSON: SUPER HIGH-SCHOOL LEVEL CARTOGRAPHER**

 

_Being foreign-born, nobody knows too much about Carmeil Jackson. From what I’ve read, he recently came into prominence in Japan because he created a new, more efficient layout for the bullet train that would reduce costs and things like that, which is probably what got him on Hope’s Peak’s radar. Other than that, it sounded like he mostly spent his time making bunches of maps in his home. He doesn’t really have much of a social media footprint, but he seems to like people pretty well._

 

“I’m the Ultimate Cartographer, as well as the resident filthy foreigner of the class. So far.”

“Filthy foreigner?” I repeated.

“Yeah. I’m from the United States. Ohio, specifically.”

“I’ve… never been,” I said.

“That’s okay. I’ve never been to Japan before. But I always loved the language, so at least we don’t have that barrier to deal with!” He chuckled awkwardly again. “I’m sorry, I’m having trouble remembering your names.”

“My name is Azaki Erana,” Azaki-san said, “and this is Chiba Ami-san.”

“Hi!” I said.

“Pleasure to meet you both!” he smiled brightly. “What are your guys’ talents?”

“I’m the Ultimate Lucky Student, she’s the Ultimate Physician,” I said.

“Ooo, very nice, very nice!” he said. “Bit more useful than cartography these days.” He trailed off, stared into space for a long moment, then suddenly snapped back into the present. “But yes, you see a notepad, let me know. I’ll be around. Thanks!”

And just as quick as he’d come out, he vanished behind the desk.

“…That was interesting,” I allowed after a moment.

“I can still hear you, y’know, I’m just right behind the desk.”

“Ah! Sorry!”

We hastily moved out of earshot.

“He seemed… nice, I suppose,” Azaki-san said. “If a little unfocused.”

“Unfocused is a good way to put it,” I agreed as we moved out of the lobby. “Why would he want a notepad?”

“Perhaps… he means to draw a map,” she supposed. “It would be sensible for a cartographer to do that.” She smirked a little. “I wouldn’t mind a map of this lodge, myself.”

“Heh! Yeah, that would be nice.”

Azaki-san frowned suddenly, and when I followed her gaze, I realised why. “A fenced-off doorway? That’s new.”

“Indeed…” she said, stepping closer to it. “I think there’s a stairway on the other side. It’s hard to tell through the mesh, but I think it’s a stairway.”

“Do you think that means we’re stuck on this floor?” I asked.

“Maybe.” She frowned even more deeply. “Come to think of it, wasn’t there a staircase in the lobby as well?” Before I could answer, she waved her hand dismissively. “We can come back to it.”

We moved past the fenced-off doorway and entered the room at the end of the corridor.

“…A laundry room,” I said, nonplussed. “Faaan-tastic.”

“A necessity,” Azaki-san said. “It wouldn’t be a very good lodge without some way to wash the sheets and blankets.”

“Hmm.”

Nobody else was inside, though. We checked inside the other rooms, which turned out to be the garbage room and the drying/ironing rooms, but they were also empty. “Okay, so I guess that’s this area searched,” I huffed. “Nowhere else to go but back.”

“Indeed,” she agreed. “But we still have… eight people unaccounted for. I can only assume their rooms are elsewhere.”

We doubled back to the lobby. Carmeil-san had popped back up from his spot behind the desk, and was talking to someone who had apparently joined him back there.

“…although if I’m being honest with myself, drawing a map won’t exactly do much in the long run.”

“I mean, if it helps you feel better, I don’t see why you shouldn’t.”

I looked over his shoulder, and I saw a new face there. Another girl, a few centimeters taller than me, but next to him she looked tiny. She was holding onto a notepad in her left hand.

Carmeil-san noticed us out of the corner of his eye and swiveled around to face us. “Oh, guys, I found a notepad! Crisis over, no need to go looking for me.”

“That was rather quick,” Azaki-san noticed.

“Well, yeah, the people from the other wing down by the stairs,” he pointed to the open corridor on the far side of the lobby, “they’re just starting to come out, and _she,”_ he gestured towards the girl holding the notepad, “graciously offered to let me borrow her notepad! So yeah, a nice little, um, a nice little crazy random happenstance!”

“That’s good to hear, I guess,” I said.

She gave him her notepad. “Promise you’ll give it back?”

“For sure,” he nodded. “Just need a few minutes with it.”

With that, he hopped over the desk and bounded down the hallway towards our rooms.

“He’s got a lot of energy,” I said, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” the newcomer agreed. “I just hope he doesn’t forget to bring that notepad back.”

 

**聡 佳夜**

**超高校級の「速記者」**

**SOU KAYA: SUPER HIGH-SCHOOL LEVEL STENOGRAPHER**

 

_Sou Kaya is in something of a niche market. She’s not famous in any sense of the word, but her name appears in a lot of court documents, because usually, she’s the person who transcribes everything that goes on in the courtrooms. I don’t know much at all about court stuff, but I can only assume that trying to get down everything everyone says takes a lot of work, and being an Ultimate at that must take even more._

 

“Oh! I’m sorry, we haven’t met yet, have we?” she said. “I’m Sou Kaya, Ultimate Stenographer.”

“Hi!” I smiled. “I’m Chiba Ami, Ultimate Luckster, and this is Azaki Erana-san, Ultimate Physician.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Azaki-san smiled.

“Same to you,” Sou said. “I have to say, though… these circumstances aren’t sitting well with me. Does anyone know where we are, or how we got here?”

“No, not yet,” I admitted, biting my lip. “We’re just sort of trying to get our bearings right now.”

Sou-san started wringing her hands. “I never do well in stressful situations… especially when I don’t know anybody else.”

“That’s understandable,” Azaki-san said. “But, hopefully we’ll be able to properly get to know each other soon and figure out what’s happening.”

“Yeah…” Sou-san nodded, eyes unfocusing. She was still staring at the hallway Carmeil-san had disappeared down.

“…Well, um, we’re gonna go find everybody else,” I said after an uncomfortable silence. “Catch up with you later?”

Sou-san nodded, but I wasn’t entirely sure she heard me.

“I have to say, I would prefer Hope’s Peak to be more straightforward than they’ve been so far,” Azaki-san said as we went down the hall to the second group of rooms. “Meeting everyone in one place, for example, so we don’t have to introduce ourselves 15 separate times.”

“I mean, I know Hope’s Peak does things a lot differently than most schools,” I said, “but nobody ever mentioned something like _this_ in the pamphlets they sent out.”

“I have a growing suspicion that this is not where we are supposed to be,” she said. “As welcoming as this environment is, I was under the impression Hope’s Peak was a _school,_ not a lodge.”

As we reached the end of the hall, someone’s door opened. We turned to see where the noise had come from, and saw someone dressed in all black come trudging towards us. They looked up, smiled tiredly, and waved at us. “Howdy. You must be classmates.”

“Erm, yes, we are,” Azaki-san said.

“Well, that’s nice, I suppose,” they said, shrugging imperceptibly. “Han Minori.”

 

**半 三則**

**超高校級の「???」**

**HAN MINORI: SUPER HIGH-SCHOOL LEVEL ???**

 

_Han Minori is about as blank a slate as anyone’s seen on the forums. Nobody knows what their talent is, despite the fact that Hope’s Peak always lists the talents of the incoming class. I’m not sure even Hope’s Peak knows exactly who they are—but knowing Hope’s Peak, that’s probably half the reason they accepted them to begin with._

 

“It’s, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Azaki-san said, extending her hand. “My name is Azaki Erana, Ultimate Physician.”

They didn’t shake her hand. I’m not sure they even noticed that she was offering it. Instead, they glanced at me. “And you are…?”

“I—I’m Chiba Ami,” I said hesitantly. “Ultimate Lucky Student.”

“Nice,” they nodded, so subtly I nearly missed it. “I don’t remember my talent, to tell the truth. Then again… I don’t remember many things these days.”

Azaki-san frowned at that, pulling out her pen. “Do you know why? Does your family have a history of memory loss?”

They smiled, and once again, it was barely there. “I wouldn’t know. I never paid them much mind.” They looked down the hall over our shoulders. “Are more people down there?”

“U-Um, yeah,” I stuttered.

“Hmm.” They pushed past us and starting heading into the lobby. “Excuse me.”

We both stared after them as they went down the hall, bewildered. “What’s their deal?” I asked aloud.

“I honestly can’t make heads or tails of them,” Azaki-san said. “Long-term memory loss? Basic neglect of social cues? Other potential problems that we haven’t seen yet? The list could go for kilometers.”

“Boy oh boy,” I muttered. “Then let’s not spend too long thinking about it.”

“Mm.”

We went to the near end of the hall first. “First up, Ichihara Kimiko,” Azaki-san said, and promptly began the routine. _Knock knock knock._ “Ichihara-san, are you awake?”

From behind the door, we heard a muffled _thud,_ then, “Ack! Sorry, hold on just _one_ second!” There were more bumps and bangs, then soon after, the door opened, revealing a girl who, somehow, was an entire head shorter than me, which I'm pretty sure would make her the shortest girl in the class. “Hey! Sorry about that, I was having trouble with my dresser.”

 

**一原 生巫**

**超高校級の「庭師」**

**ICHIHARA KIMIKO: SUPER HIGH-SCHOOL LEVEL GARDENER**

 

_I’ve heard of Ichihara Kimiko before. She’s really popular in the magazines for her gardening how-tos and stories. She spends most of her time cultivating picturesque landscapes for a lot of different people, and she doesn’t make a penny off of any of it. She says that being able to spend her time on these gardens is payment enough, which is pretty cool, I suppose, but she doesn’t strike me as someone with a lot of spare change._

 

“What sort of trouble makes that much noise?” I wondered aloud.

“The sort where the thing tips over and nearly crushes your toes,” she sighed. “But it’s back up now, it’s fixed, nothing to worry about.” She looked at us both. “Seriously. Like, I mean it.”

Azaki-san cleared her throat. “Well, we were just stopping by to see if you were up.”

“Yeah, I am!” she smiled. “And actually, now that I’m out here, I could really go for some food. Do you know where there’s a cafeteria or something here?”

“I think there should be one connected to the lobby somewhere,” I said.

“Great! I’m gonna go get something to eat. Nice meeting you!”

She exited the hall, humming a little tune to herself.

“She seemed okay,” I said. “Compared to some of the others.”

“You get some good eggs in every crowd,” Azaki-san said. “Also some bad ones.”

“I hope we got more good eggs,” I said as we moved down.

“Let’s see… that’s Han-san’s room… that’s Carmeil-san’s… okay, here’s one we haven’t seen: Fukuyama Matsuki-san. Oh, I know him!”

“You do?”

“Yes, he went to my school! He’s a wonderful person.”

She knocked without hesitation. “Fukuyama-kun? It’s me, Azaki Erana!”

“Azaki-chan?” a high male voice said through the door. Barely a second after we heard that, the door flung open, and Fukuyama-san was suddenly there, wrapping Azaki-san in his muscular arms. “Hey there! How _are_ you?”

“It’s good to see you too, Fukuyama-kun!” Azaki-san gasped. “But air would help too!”

 

**福山 松記**

**超高校級の「放浪癖」**

**FUKUYAMA MATSUKI: SUPER HIGH-SCHOOL LEVEL WANDERLUST**

 

_Fukuyama Matsuki is more Internet-famous than anything else—his travel blog is one of the most followed in the country. He’s always going to new, exotic locations across the globe in his spare time, and even when he’s down to his last penny on a trip, he somehow manages to find the best places to go without going broke. What’s more amazing to me, though, is that he does all this travelling without cutting into his school time whatsoever. He must really be talented at being a traveller…_

 

He relaxed his grip a little, but still held her tightly. “It’s been _ages!_ I feel like the last time I saw you was the beginning of vacation!”

“That _was_ the last time we saw each other, Fukuyama-kun. You’ve been travelling the rest of the time, right?”

He let go. “Really? Hm, let’s see… yeah, I guess so! ‘Cause I was in the Alps for about three days, and before that it was the weekend in Peru, and before _that_ I was bopping around Africa… so yeah, I guess it was the end of the year I saw you last!”

“And for your information, two weeks is _not_ ages. It’s two weeks.”

“Hey, when you’re on a roll, time flies,” he chuckled, ruffling his sandy hair. He looked down and _finally,_ he noticed me. “Oh, hi there! My name is Fukuyama Matsuki, Ultimate Wanderlust!” He offered his hand, which I shook. I have to admit here, he was pretty hot, and I might’ve been a little jealous of Azaki-san at the moment.

“I-I’m Chiba Ami, Ultimate Good Luck!” I stuttered, trying not to give away my immediate attraction to him. He had a strong handshake!

“Nice!” He flashed a radiant grin, and I had to fortify my knees a little then, because _damn._ “I could use you as a travel buddy sometime, ‘cause I’ve had more than my fair share of bad weather ruin a good trip!”

“I mean—I—that would be fun!” I stammered.

“Awesome!” Our handshake ended (too soon, in my opinion), and he gave Azaki-san a thumbs-up before saying, “Alright, I’m gonna find other people and play the meet-’n-greet game. Catch up with you later?”

“Sure,” Azaki-san smiled. “Good to see you again, Fukuyama-kun.”

“Same here, Azaki-chan!” he beamed, and he left. But, not before he turned, waved, and said, “Nice to meet you, Chiba-san!”

We both watched him go, me a little bit longingly. The hot guy in the class noticing me? That’s a good sign.

“He has that effect on a lot of people,” Azaki-san smirked knowingly, making me jump. “Lucky you, you fall into what he calls his ‘type.’ He has a thing for girls with pink hair, especially shorter ones like you.”

_Lucky?_

Oh hell yes, luck, please come my way on this one.

“So far the guys are putting forth decent stock,” I grinned lopsidedly.

A door on our right opened, and another tall-ish guy came out, wearing lots of bright reds and blues. “People!”

Well, that put my budding fantasies on hold for now.

He skipped over to us. Like, actually skipped. “Hi there, guys!”

“Oh—hello,” Azaki said. “And you are?”

“My name is Kihara Akimasa!” he chirped. “Super High-School Level Campaigner!”

 

**喜原 明正**

**超高校級の「運動員」**

**KIHARA AKIMASA: SUPER HIGH-SCHOOL LEVEL CAMPAIGNER**

 

_Kihara Akimasa is a big name in media, mainly because he’s the hottest commodity in their market right now. He’s led some of the most successful campaigns in Japanese history, from his little brother’s brownie sale to the election campaigns of no fewer than 12 members of the House of Councillors. Oddly, he claims he has no agenda of his own, but is instead a free agent, which makes him pretty unusual in the field. Normally, people are less generous with their time and money._

 

“Basically, if you ever need someone to help champion your cause, give your endeavours a crowd boost, or even just have someone to cheer you on, I’m your guy!”

“You, erm,” Azaki-san said, trying to figure out the words she wanted to use, “…you’ve put some thought into that description.”

“Yes indeed!” he said, posing proudly. “I take my work very seriously!” He broke the pose, stretching out his neck. “Which reminds me, I actually need to go back into my room real quick and make sure I’ve got all my stuff still here. Catch you guys in a li’l bit?”

Before we could answer, he dashed back into his room.

“…Like a bat outta hell,” I said, a little dumbstruck.

We moved past his room as quietly as possible so he couldn’t hear us, but once again, the next door opened before we reached it, and this time, a shorter guy with dark blue hair shuffled out, letting out a long sigh. “I’m tired, I’m stiff, I don’t know where I am, don’t talk to me.”

He wasn’t even looking at us!

 

**中宗根 智昭**

**超高校級の「歴史家」**

**NAKASONE TOMOAKI: SUPER HIGH-SCHOOL LEVEL HISTORIAN**

 

_Nakasone Tomoaki’s reputation precedes him by about half a kilometer. He’s a world-renowned historian, with a world-renowned attitude to go with it. His academic texts are great resources, but he hates people with a passion. He’s only ever given one interview, and that got cut short because he got so bothered with the interviewer that he chucked him out of his house. Needless to say, he hasn’t been offered an interview since, nor has he requested one._

 

“No _immediate_ offense meant to you—but I doubt that will stay the case for long. History has proven otherwise on multiple occasions,” he continued, walking past us like he never even noticed we were here. “Talk to someone else!”

“But we haven’t said a word,” I grumbled to Azaki-san.

“So much for decent stock,” she quipped, glaring at his retreating form. “Then again, that looks a lot like Nakasone Tomoaki.”

“Oh. That explains it.”

“You know of him too?”

“I’ve heard the horror stories.”

We dropped it, thankfully, and moved on to the next unopened door. “Okay, let’s try this again,” Azaki-san sighed. “Morita Eiji-san.” She knocked. “Morita-san, are you awake?”

Just then, I felt something cold press against my neck, and an equally cold voice hissed, “What are you doing?”

I glanced over at Azaki-san, and saw she also had something pressed against her neck. It looked an awful lot like a bayonet.

 

**守多 栄治**

**超高校級の「狙撃兵」**

**MORITA EIJI: SUPER HIGH-SCHOOL LEVEL SHARPSHOOTER**

 

_Morita Eiji is another mystery-type acceptee. He’s got a reputation as the best sharpshooter in East Asia, and probably could go to the next Olympics if he really wanted to. But other than his skills, nobody knows much about him. There’s plenty of speculation from the gun nuts on the forums, but nothing really concrete, except that he lives in Tokyo and frequents a small shooting range not far from Hope’s Peak._

 

“We were just stopping by to see if you were awake, Morita-san,” Azaki-san said carefully.

Morita-san slowly pulled back the bayonets, to my great relief. “Your concern is appreciated, but unnecessary, and potentially dangerous to yourselves. I don’t take kindly to unannounced arrivals. It’s an occupational hazard.”

“W-We’re sorry, Morita-san,” Azaki-san said, turning around to face him. “We’ll be more careful next time.”

Morita-san sighed, sheathing the bayonets. “I would prefer we keep the number of ‘next times’ to a minimum, if possible. If it isn’t possible, then so be it, I suppose.”

“We didn’t mean to bother you,” I said.

“I understand. Just know that I can’t undo reflexes easily.”

“Are those real?” I asked suddenly, dumbly, pointing at his bayonets.

“…Yes,” he said, giving me a look, “but I had them dulled before I came to Hope’s Peak. They requested that I do so.”

“Then—why did you…”

“Reflexes. Like I said.”

“Oh.”

He bit the inside of his cheek. “I apologize. I don’t mean to seem callous. I just have to be on guard.”

“Th-That’s—okay…”

He bowed his head. “Well, if there’s nothing else, I am going to see if there is more to this place. I won’t rest easy until I know where we are.”

He left down the hall.

“He’s a character, isn’t he?” a new voice said.

We both whipped around to face him, jolted by the suddenness of his remark. He was probably the shortest guy in the class, but that still gave him a couple of centimeters over me. “Oh, sorry, didn’t mean to scare you! Just a passing remark.”

“It’s fine,” Azaki-san huffed, smoothing down her coat. “You must be…”

“I’m Tsutomu Makio,” he smiled, saluting smartly. “I’m the Ultimate Park Ranger!”

 

**都富 蒔生**

**超高校級の「山守」**

**TSUTOMU MAKIO: SUPER HIGH-SCHOOL LEVEL PARK RANGER**

 

_Tsutomu Makio… He’s someone I’ve only read about in the forums. He’s not really famous, but he’s gotten some attention for his dedication to the national parks of Japan. He constantly volunteers his time to look after the wildlife and keep the parks clean and maintained, which has earned him a couple of commendation badges from the various parks. He doesn’t spend much time with people, but he seems to be friendly._

 

“Ultimate Park Ranger?” I said. “You must be at home here, then.”

He scowled a little at that. “Usually, yeah, a lodge would be right up my alley, but this doesn’t feel right to me. It feels… I dunno, it feels off. Like it’s not supposed to be here.’ He shook his head. “I dunno. Anyway, yeah, I’m Tsutomu Makio. What’re your names?”

“I’m Azaki Erana,” Azaki-san said, “and this is Chiba Ami-san.”

“She’s the Ultimate Physician, I’m the Ultimate Luckster,” I added.

“That’s pretty neat!” he said. “Um, when you say _physician,_ does that mean just for _humans,_ or…?”

“I don’t heal animals, no,” Azaki-san shook her head. “I’m not a veterinarian.”

“Oh. Oh well.” He pulled a pair of spectacles from his lapel pocket and put them on. “I’ll find someone eventually. Can’t have a good park if you don’t look after the wildlife, right?”

Before we could answer, there was a sudden, loud burst of static that echoed through the building.

“What was that?” I automatically asked.

“I have no idea…” Azaki-san said.

There was a second, shorter burst. Then, a monitor in the corner of the hall turned on, revealing… well, it was too dark to really tell. There seemed to be a chair taking up the majority of the frame, backlit by what looked like a fireplace, but if someone was sitting in it, I couldn’t tell. As I tried to figure out what was going on, someone started speaking over the intercom.

**“Testing, testing. Is this working?”**

The voice was clearly female, but it wasn’t any of the girls in our class, as far as I could tell. It was too metered, and also too cold. Nobody here had a voice that was quite this chilly.

**“Good morning, everyone! This is an announcement from the Hope’s Peak Lodge and Resort Management Office! Could you all please congregate in the lobby for a special group meeting as quickly as possible! See you in a few!”**

The monitor shut off, leaving us with an unpleasant sense of foreboding. Who was that? What was the image on the screen? Whatever they were, I didn’t get the feeling that what would happen next would be very good.

I looked to Azaki-san, nervous. “I guess we should get to the lobby?”

“I agree,” she said tensely. “Maybe we’ll start getting some answers.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates will be sporadic. I've written almost 12,000 words in the span of about 5 days, which is a record pace I don't know if I can maintain, especially factoring in the construction of the trials. I will do my best, and I will keep you posted on my progress.


	2. Hope's Peak's Lodge and Resort Report Cards

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's some helpful material to remember everybody's names and faces by. Next chapter is on the way.

**Chiba Ami**

**Height:** 155 cm (5’1”) / **Weight:** 48 kg (105.8 lbs) / **Chest:** 88 cm (31.5”) / **Blood Type:** AB-

**Birthday:** September 8

**Likes:** Video games, manga, miso soup

**Hates:** Greasy food, tight spaces

**Talent:** Super High-School Level Good Luck

Chiba usually wears a navy-blue Hope’s Peak hooded sweater over a black T-shirt. She also wears a pink skirt with black thigh-high stockings, as well as very old gray tennis shoes that are split open at the toes, showing her stockings. She has shoulder-length pink hair with an ahoge, brown eyes, and somewhat pale skin.

 

**Azaki Erana**

**Height:** 165 cm (5’6”) / **Weight:** 55 kg (121.3 lbs) / **Chest:** 91 cm (36”) / **Blood Type:** O-

**Birthday:** October 4

**Likes:** Medical dramas, puzzles

**Hates:** Clutter, rain

**Talent:** Super High-School Level Physician

Azaki wears an unbuttoned doctor’s coat over a light-brown cardigan and white undershirt, as well as black slacks and matching black slip-on shoes. She also wears a pair of reading glasses. She has chest-length brown hair that she keeps in a high ponytail, light-green eyes, and pale skin.

 

**Anchi Arisu**

**Height:** 161 cm (5’3”) / **Weight:** 54 kg (119.1 lbs) / **Chest:** 78 cm (30.5”) / **Blood Type:** A+

**Birthday:** April 14

**Likes:** Sushi, thunderstorms, football (soccer)

**Hates:** Waking up early, bright light, crowds

**Talent:** Super High-School Level Brewer

Anchi wears a pair of brown overalls over a red-and-blue striped T-shirt, as well as brown work boots, all of which are covered in various beer stains. She has shoulder-length red hair that she keeps in a messy bun, blue eyes, and slightly sallow skin.

 

**Sanma Kotomi**

**Height:** 163 cm (5’4”) / **Weight:** 55 kg (121.3 lbs) / **Chest:** 86 cm (34”) / **Blood Type:** B-

**Birthday:** May 24

**Likes:** Drawing, coffee, ice-skating

**Hates:** Fireworks, mud

**Talent:** Super High-School Level Architect

Sanma wears a midnight-blue blazer over a gray pinstriped button-down shirt, with the top button of the shirt unbuttoned. She also wears gray dress pants and black slip-on shoes, as well as a pair of progressive lens glasses. She has neck-length black hair, bright green eyes, and a light dusting of freckles on her cheeks.

 

**Ojiro Hideo**

**Height:** 175 cm (5’9”) / **Weight:** 68 kg (149.9 lbs) / **Chest:** 91 cm (36”) / **Blood Type:** AB+

**Birthday:** July 1

**Likes:** Winter, video games, dodgeball

**Hates:** Rollercoasters

**Talent:** Super High-School Level Skier

Hideo wears a brightly-colored holiday sweater over a white long-sleeved shirt, brown cargo pants, and brown hiking boots. He has curly black hair that resembles an afro, very tan skin, brown eyes, and a sturdy frame.

 

**Ojiro Shijima**

**Height:** 187 cm (6’2”) / **Weight:** 59 kg (130.1 lbs) / **Chest:** 91 cm (36”) / **Blood Type:** B+

**Birthday:** July 1

**Likes:** Reality TV, football (soccer)

**Hates:** Loud music, cereal

**Talent:** Super High-School Level Runner

Shijima wears a red T-shirt and green running shorts, as well as a pair of earrings shaped like a sun and moon. She also wears a pair of white running shoes and knee-high red socks. She has chest-length wavy black hair, brown eyes, and a lean frame.

 

**Nori Miya**

**Height:** 151 cm (4’11”) / **Weight:** 44 kg (97.0 lbs) / **Chest:** 73 cm (29”)/ **Blood Type:** O+

**Birthday:** December 16

**Likes:** Being alone, warm things

**Hates:** Cold, heights

**Talent:** Super High-School Level Composer

Nori usually wears a black turtleneck sweater and dark-blue jeans, with a pair of black winter boots that have white faux-fur at the top. She also has a blue hairclip on the left side of her head with white detailing. She has waist-length purple hair, blue eyes, and very pale skin.

 

**Carmeil Jackson**

**Height:** 179 cm (5’10”) / **Weight:** 67 kg (147.7 lbs) / **Chest:** 86 cm (34”) / **Blood Type:** A-

**Birthday:** March 12

**Likes:** Connect-the-dots, reading

**Hates:** Social media, falling, fruit

**Talent:** Super High-School Level Cartographer

Carmeil wears a plaid green-and-black flannel jacket over a gray T-shirt, dark gray slacks, and gray tennis shoes. His left hand is perpetually covered in graphite from his pencils. He has neck-length messy brown hair, light-green eyes, and a slender frame.

 

**Sou Kaya**

**Height:** 157 cm (5’2”) / **Weight:** 45 kg (99.2 lbs) / **Chest:** 81 cm (32”) / **Blood Type:** A+

**Birthday:** February 19

**Likes:** Colouring, hats, summer

**Hates:** Courtroom dramas, being wrong

**Talent:** Super High-School Level Stenographer

Sou is generally seen wearing a light-green sweater over a pink undershirt, and a faded red skirt with gray thigh-high stockings. She also wears black slip-on shoes. She has shoulder-length auburn hair in a pixie cut, green eyes, and has ink splotches all over her hands from her writing.

 

**Han Minori**

**Height:** 162 cm (5’4”) / **Weight:** 54 kg (119.1 lbs) / **Chest:** 75 cm (29.5”) / **Blood Type:** O+

**Birthday:** November 4

**Likes:** Quiet, drawing

**Hates:** Loud noises, fog

**Talent:** Super High-School Level ???

Tan wears a black sweatshirt over a gray long-sleeved shirt with a blue stripe across the chest, as well as black sweatpants and gray tennis shoes. They have shoulder-length black hair, black eyes, and an androgynous frame.

 

**Ichihara Kimiko**

**Height:** 136 cm (4’5.5”) **Weight:** 38 kg (83.8 lbs) **Chest:** 70 cm (27.5”) **Blood Type:** B+

**Birthday:** August 31

**Likes:** Sunshine, dancing

**Hates:** Sushi, the dark

**Talent:** Super High-School Level Gardener

Ichihara is usually seen wearing a colourful T-shirt and beige cargo shorts, with a brand-name logo on the chest of the shirt. All of her clothes are dirty and slightly torn from years of use in the garden. She also wears a pair of white work shoes that are covered in dried mud and dirt, and knee-high blue socks. She has messy shoulder-length green hair, blue eyes, and her hands are usually caked with a thin layer of dirt.

 

**Fukuyama Matsuki**

**Height:** 190 cm (6’3”) **Weight:** 90 kg (198.4 lbs) **Chest:** 93 cm (36.5”) **Blood Type:** A+

**Birthday:** October 9

**Likes:** Sweet things, the beach, people

**Hates:** Math, asking for help

**Talent:** Super High-School Level Wanderlust

Fukuyama Matsuki wears a sports jersey of his local baseball team, of which the colours are green and orange, and a pair of blue jeans. He also wears a pair of new tennis shoes. He has short sandy blond hair, bright blue eyes, and tan skin.

 

**Kihara Akimasa**

**Height:** 173 cm (5’8”) **Weight:** 56 kg (123.5 lbs) **Chest:** 84 cm (33”) **Blood Type:** A-

**Birthday:** November 1

**Likes:** Running, baking

**Hates:** Being alone, swimming

**Talent:** Super High-School Level Campaigner

Kihara sports clothes that are almost exclusively shades of red and blue. His long-sleeved shirt is primarily red with blue sleeves, decorated with pins he’s received over his campaigns, and his pants are mostly blue with red and white accents at the cuffs and seams. He has short black hair that sticks out in various directions, brown eyes, and slightly pale skin.

 

**Nakasone Tomoaki**

**Height:** 165 cm (5’5”) **Weight:** 50 kg (110.2 lbs) **Chest:** 76 cm (30”) **Blood Type:** AB+

**Birthday:** January 13

**Likes:** Reading, writing

**Hates:** People

**Talent:** Super High-School Level Historian

Nakasone wears a very professional brown blazer over a white button-down shirt, which he buttons all the way to the top, as well as a burgundy scarf. He wears matching brown dress pants and brown dress shoes, with white socks. He has short, neat black hair, black eyes, and almost always has a green notebook in his left hand.

 

**Morita Eiji**

**Height:** 194 cm (6’5”) **Weight:** 80 kg (176.4 lbs) **Chest:** 94 cm (37”) **Blood Type:** O+

**Birthday:** September 10

**Likes:** Nature, Mahjong

**Hates:** Inefficiency

**Talent:** Super High-School Level Sharpshooter

Morita usually wears a light-gray jacket over a black button-down shirt, as well as black slacks and matching black combat boots. He also has a sheath on each hip for his two bayonets. He has neck-length brown hair, blue eyes, and wears a pair of black gloves over his hands.

 

**Tsutomu Makio**

**Height:** 162 cm (5’4”) **Weight:** 50 kg (110.2 lbs) **Chest:** 81 cm (32”) **Blood Type:** O-

**Birthday:** May 20

**Likes:** Animals, reading

**Hates:** Littering, fire

**Talent:** Super High-School Level Park Ranger

Tsutomeru wears a lime-green long-sleeved shirt and beige slacks, along with brown hiking boots. He also has a park ranger’s hat that he carries with him, as well as a pair of reading glasses. He has very short brown hair, green eyes, and slightly tanned skin.


	3. Prologue (Part 2): Déjà Vu

When we got to the lobby, most of the class was already there. Carmeil-san was on the stairs, rapidly drawing something on Sou-san’s notepad. She was looking over his shoulder, holding onto the railing next to him. Ichihara was just entering from the cafeteria, holding a bowl and spoon in her hands; Nori-san had been joined at the fireplace by Nakasone-san and Sanma-san, and they were all silently staring into the flames; Fukuyama-san was sitting in one of the red chairs in the center of the room, talking animatedly with the Ojiro twins; Morita-san was standing by the front desk; and Han-san was idling near the hallway to our rooms.

“So we’re missing… Anchi-san, and Kihara-san,” Azaki-san said. “And Kihara-san’s in his room gathering… supplies of some sort.”

“And Anchi-san’s probably still asleep,” I said.

“Anchi-chan always sleeps in,” Sou-san said. “She never showed up to morning classes if she could help it.”

“Anything to do with her talent?” I asked blithely.

“I never ask,” she said. “She’s prickly enough already.”

“Sort of got that impression,” I nodded.

At that moment, Kihara-san came bounding out of the hallway. “I’m here!” he shouted enthusiastically.

His enormous arrival was met with a lot of staring and silence. Amazingly, he didn’t seem put out at all. “I’m super-ready for this meeting, guys, you’re not gonna believe it!”

“Someone, please, shut him up!” Nakasone-san snapped.

That popped Kihara-san’s bubble. “Ah, c’mon, man, there’s no reason to be like that!”

“There is _ample_ reason,” Nakasone-san retorted. “The day has barely started and you’re breaking the morning calm like an overly-caffeinated rooster!”

“Well, I mean, you gotta start your day off with a bang, am I right?”

_“No!”_

“Hey, guys, let’s not get into an argument,” Fukuyama-san said, cutting into the spat _(with a voice like honey)_. “It’s too early for that, right?”

“Yeah, I mean, breakfast hasn’t even started!” Hideo-san chimed in.

“Wait, breakfast _hasn’t_ started?” Ichihara-san repeated. She looked down at her bowl guiltily. “Guess I started a little too early…”

“I wouldn’t sweat it,” Carmeil-san said with a grin from his spot on the stairs. “The buffet in there says breakfast started over an hour ago.”

Anchi-san stumbled into the lobby, grumbling who-knows-what under her breath.

“And that makes sixteen,” Azaki-san said. “Everyone is here.”

“Joy of joys,” Anchi-san snarled. “Can we just get this over with?”

“Um… I think we’re still waiting on our host,” Tsutomu-san said.

“Hopefully this whole affair is resolved quickly,” Sanma-san said. “I’d like to get back to my studies.”

“I’d like to go back to my room,” Han-san said from their spot by the hall.

“Same here,” Nori-san said.

“I’ve got a hankerin’ for some breakfast, myself,” Shijima-san said.

“Sorry to have kept you all waiting, then!”

That cold female voice rang out through the lobby, but this time, it wasn’t over the intercom. It sounded like it was coming from right nearby. We all looked around, but no new person had shown up. “Show yourself!” Morita-san ordered, brandishing his bayonets.

“Somebody’s on edge!” the voice giggled. “I guess I can’t really say no to a command like that!”

A door to the left of the front desk opened, and out walked… a high-school aged girl.

If it weren’t for the rest of her appearance, she might have fit right in.

She had short pink hair, barely shoulder length, but the way it fanned out at the ends made it seem like it had once been longer. She had on a hoodie that was divided down the middle into black and white, and underneath, she had on a deep red button-down shirt and a black skirt. Her thigh-high leggings were also black, but her shoes were white.

Her eyes were a bright, foreboding red.

“Hey hey!”

* * *

 “My name is Nanami Chiaki, but please, just call me Chiaki-sensei!” she smiled sweetly. “Welcome to Hope’s Peak Lodge and Winter Resort!”

“Isn’t Hope’s Peak an _academy?”_ Sanma-san said, raising a caustic eyebrow.

“Hope’s Peak is a lot of things, Kotomi-chan,” Nanami said mysteriously.

“You’re dodging the question,” Morita-san said.

“I’m in charge here, Eiji-kun, and that means I can dodge as many of your questions as I like!” Nanami said with a disturbingly wide grin.

“So this _isn’t_ Hope’s Peak, then?” Azaki-san asked.

Nanami turned to face her. “This _is_ Hope’s Peak, Erana-chan! Didn’t you hear what I was saying just now? Hope’s Peak is _many_ things!”

“But you just said _you’re_ the one in charge here, even though Hope’s Peak is run by—”

_“Me._ It’s run by me,” Nanami declared. “Always has been, always will be! _I_ am Hope’s Peak’s headmaster!”

She barrelled straight on, cutting off multiple objections from the rest of the class. “I have brought you all here so that we may live a communal, harmonious life inside this _beautiful_ lodge and resort that I built just for us! I hope that we can make the most of it!”

“Wait, wait, hold the phone,” Tsutomu-san interrupted. “What do you mean by _communal life?”_

Nanami looked at him like he had asked an incredibly obvious question. “Isn’t it clear? This lodge, Hope’s Peak Lodge and WInter Resort, is your new home!”

“New home?” Nori-san said anxiously.

“That’s right!” Nanami beamed. “From now on, you will be living _here!_ No ifs, ands, or buts about it!”

I was starting to seriously freak out. This girl was obviously a bit twisted in the head, and I didn’t like how enthusiatic she sounded about us all being basically _trapped_ in this lodge.

“Of course, I understand if this doesn’t sound to your liking,” she continued, suddenly shrinking into herself and pulling up her hood—which I immediately wish I hadn’t seen, because the hood looked like the head of a bear, except the black side’s eye wasn’t a beady dot, it looked like a jagged red bolt of _lightning_. “The lodge and resort life isn’t for everybody.” She perked up, dropping her hood. “Not to worry, though! I have a special opportunity for anybody who wishes to leave this lodge and rejoin the outside world!”

“A ‘special opportunity’?” Carmeil-san asked, looking a little uneasy himself.

“Yep yep!” Nanami smiled. “There is exactly one way that you bastards can leave this lodge!”

She moved to the center of the room, hopping onto the coffee table Fukuyama-san and the Ojiros were seated around. All of them scurried from their couches. “Anybody who wishes to leave Hope’s Peak Lodge and Winter Resort must do one thing and one thing only: participate in what I like to call, The Resort Life of Mutual Killing!”

The temperature of the room dropped ten degrees at those words. Everybody looked at each other fearfully, not quite sure if we’d just heard her right. “S-say again?” Ichihara-san asked, hands shaking.

Nanami sighed exasperatedly. “ _An_ -y- _bo_ -dy who _wish-_ es to _leave_ Hope’s Peak Lodge and _Win_ -ter Re- _sort_ must—”

“We heard that part fine!” Nakasone-san barked, but he also looked pretty scared. “What was that last thing you said?”

Nanami let out another, longer sigh. _“The Re-sort Life of Mu-tu-al Kill-ing._ Slow enough for ya?”

“I-I-I don’t understand,” Sou-san said, shaking her head slowly.

“Gods, you people are _dense!”_ Nanami snapped, jumping off the coffee table. “How about this: if you want to leave, you have to kill each other!” She grinned maniacally. “Upupupu…”

“Okay, I’m officially nope-ing the fuck out of here,” Anchi-san said, backing cautiously towards the hall.

“Ah-ah-ah, Arisu-chan, I haven’t finished yet!” Nanami said, holding up a warning finger. “You wouldn’t want to leave without hearing everything I have to say, would you?”

“Why should we listen?” I blurted out. “You’re-you’re talking about k-killing each other, j-just to _leave?_ What kind of BS is _that?!”_

“It isn’t BS, though, Ami-chan,” she said, eyes gleaming dangerously. “It’s the truth. If you want to leave, you will have to commit the _perfect murder.”_

“That’s not gonna fly,” Fukuyama-san said. “No way am I killing anybody!”

“You say that, Matsumi-kun,” Nanami said, “but you’d be surprised how far people are willing to fall in this situation.” She flashed a winning grin. “I speak from experience, even the most righteous, hopeful soul can be corrupted by despair!”

“What do you mean?” Hideo demanded.

“Oop! No no no, I mustn’t say too much!” Nanami laughed. “That would ruin the despair of it all!”

“Stop it!” Nakasone-san shouted, standing up. “You’re taking this too far!”

“Taking what too far, Tomoaki-kun?” she asked, putting on a clueless face.

“All of this!” he seethed. “This place, your act, your whole cock-and-bull demands that we commit _murder,_ just _stop!”_

“Aw, but Tomoaki-kun—”

“And _stop_ calling us by our given names!” he screamed. “We are _not_ your friends!”

Nanami went silent for a moment. Then, a tiny smile started to grow on her face.

“That bothers you, doesn’t it? When I call you by your first name…” She started advancing on Nakasone-san. “Does it bother you, Tomoaki-kun?”

Nakasone-san stood his ground as she came closer, but he was visibly shaking. “Stop it!”

“Does it bother you when I call you Tomoaki-kun?”

“I said _stop it!”_

She was about 20 feet away from him. I wanted to do something, but I was frozen.

“You don’t like it, Tomoaki-kun.”

_“I’m asking you to stop!”_

“Tomoaki-kun.”

10 feet.

_“Stop using my name!”_

“Tomoaki-kun.”

_“Why won’t you stop?!”_

“Tomoaki-kun. Tomoaki-kun. Tomoaki-kun.”

_“Stop it, stop it, stop it!”_

She was directly in front of him, and despite being half a head shorter than him, she seemed to tower over him at this point.

“TomoakiTomoakiTomoakiTomoakiTomoaki—” 

**_“Hey!”_ **

Nanami stopped. Without moving away from Nakasone-san, she turned to face her new challenger. “Something to say, Jackson-kun?”

“Two things, actually,” he said, moving past me and Azaki-san. “First off, your whole first-name-only game won’t work on me, so you can cut that out any time you like. Secondly, he asked you to stop. So _stop._ Aren’t headmasters supposed to be _supportive_ of their students?”

Nanami scowled at Carmeil, but after a moment, backed away from Nakasone-san a little. “You’re a real spoilsport, Jackson-kun.”

“I’ve been called worse,” he said icily.

Nanami sighed. “Alright, fine. We’ll have to put this game on hold for now.” She cleared her throat. “Oh! There is one last thing I need to give you all before I can end this meeting!”

“I trust you about as far as I can throw you, at this point,” Azaki-san said.

“Well, no need to test how far that is,” Nanami giggled. “Besides, assaulting the headmaster is a _huge_ violation of the rules here at Hope’s Peak Lodge and Winter Resort! Which segues _directly_ into my final point!”

She reached into her hoodie, and pulled out something that resembled an e-book. “You will all be receiving one of these Electronic Student ID Cards, or ElectroIDs for short! These all contain a full list of lodge rules, and act as keys to certain areas of the lodge and resort. Please, keep these on your person as frequently as possible!”

She started going around and handing out our ElectroIDs. “Anchi Arisu… Azaki Erana… Carmeil Jackson… Chiba Ami…”

I tried not to look her in the eye when she handed me my ElectroID. Her expression was too sweet, too out of place considering everything she’d just told us. It made my stomach turn.

“Fukuyama Matsuki… Han Minori… Ichihara Kimiko… Kihara Akimasa… Morita Eiji… Nakasone Tomoaki…” Nakasone flinched when she called out his name. “Nori Miya… Ojiro Hideo, Ojiro Shijima… Sanma Kotomi… Sou Kaya… and Tsutomu Makio.

“Now before I go, could I have you all turn your attention to Rule… ah, Six, please?”

I was done at this point. Just done. Reluctantly, I turned on the ElectroID and scrolled through the rules to number six.

**6\. Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes “blackened” will graduate, unless they are discovered.**

“Allow me to clarify what the term ‘discovered’ means,” Nanami said. “Once a body has been discovered, everyone will have an opportunity to take part in a short investigation period, after which a mandatory class trial will commence, where you will all vote for who you believe the culprit is! If the culprit is discovered, they will be swiftly punished! If not… then it will be the _rest_ of you who are punished!”

“W-What do you mean by punished?” Han-san asked.

“I’m so glad you asked, Minori-san!” Nanami said. “Put simply, you will be summarily executed!”

“E-E-Executed?!” Sou-san repeated.

“Yes, executed.” Nanami nodded, looking a bit frustrated. “Shot, electrocuted, crushed, drawn and quartered, eviscerated, blown to bits, bled out—”

“Alright, we get it!” I snapped. “We’ll be killed!”

“Exactly!” she grinned. “I’m glad you understand.”

“I’m not…” Shijima-san shuddered.

“So, that’s about everything from me for now!” Nanami announced. “Be sure to read the rest of the rules—I would hate to have to punish you for your ignorance. Upupupu…!”

She slowly moved back towards the door she’d entered from. “I’ll be seeing you all soon!”

She disappeared into the room, and the door shut without her touching it.

For a long moment, everybody stood in silence. Some of us looked terrified; others looked like they were feeling sick; and a few people didn’t show any reaction. 

“…So, um, let’s all agree up front,” Fukuyama-san began, looking a bit pale, “we’re not doing what she wants, right?”

“Sh-Sh-She’s absolutely psychotic!” Ichihara-san said. “No way I-I-I’m listening to her!”

“Psychotic? More like fucking _batshit,”_ Anchi-san said. “She’s on her own level of crazy!”

“Yeah!” I said. “There’s no _fucking_ way I’m going to do anything she says!”

“But she’s also the person in charge!” Sanma-san pointed out. “If she’s orchestrating this whole thing, then what happens to us if we _don’t_ follow her rules?”

“W-What do you mean?” Sou-san asked, holding her arms over her chest.

“I mean that if _she_ is the one who’s controlling the situation, then the possibility lies ahead that she may _force_ us to do her bidding.”

“We’re not going to let anybody die,” Azaki-san said firmly. “Nobody is going to die, and we are _all_ going to find a way out of here before _she_ can try to force our hand.”

“That’s awfully optimistic of you,” Nakasone-san said, “but you saw how serious she is about all of this! And besides, if she went to _these_ lengths to trap us, do you think escaping will really be so easy?”

Azaki-san frowned. “I never said it would be easy, I said we would find a way.”

“Oh, really?” Nakasone-san laughed. “How long do you think it’ll take before she notices? And how long do you think she’ll wait while we’re busy _not_ playing her game? She’s not that patient!”

“Nakasone-san, let’s not get too worked up about this,” Carmeil-san said. “Panicking won’t help us.”

“Well, we need a plan of attack pretty goddamned fast if we want to get out of here!” Nakasone-san shouted. “Otherwise I’m pretty sure we _will_ be finding somebody’s dead body!”

His words rang out through the lobby like a curse. Everybody tensed at the words _dead body—_ had he really said that? It was like he’d just jinxed the whole thing. Made it seem... possible.

“Are you saying you believe one of us will actually commit murder?” Morita-san said after a tense silence.

“I… I don’t know,” Nakasone-san said. “I just know that that Nanami bitch isn’t going to take kindly to us playing nice for long!”

“We can’t be concerned with what Nanami Chiaki wants,” Azaki-san said. “Right now, we need to focus on finding out as much as we can about this place, as well as how to get out of here as quickly as possible.”

“She’s right!” Kihara-san said. “We gotta stay positive about this, guys! If we put our minds to it, we can do anything!”

“Spoken like a true campaigner,” Han-san remarked.

“Yeah!” Shijima-san agreed. “We can’t let one person hold all sixteen of us down! We’re Ultimates!”

“Right!” Hideo-san said. “We’re the best of the best! There’s no way we can’t find a way out of this mess!”

My blood started to pump a little faster when they said that. That’s right! We’re the newest class of Hope’s Peak Academy! Cream of the cream of the crop! Sixteen chosen out of millions to attend the school, because we were just _that good._ We couldn’t kowtow to someone like Nanami just because they gave us a bit of a scare!

But underneath my newfound confidence, the doubt still lingered: how many people believed what she’d said about mutual killing? How many people _would_ grow desperate, given enough time? Were there people here that would one day be untrustworthy? Would someone start to see incentive in Nanami's words? Would they try to kill one of us?

Would they try to kill _me?_

“Well, in the interest of keeping this spirit of unity throughout our stay here,” Azaki-san said, “I think we should establish some form of daily meeting so we can go over anything that we discover in our travels through this lodge. It would also be a good way to keep tabs on each other, make sure we’re all doing alright.”

“You mean, make sure nobody’s thinking of… murder?” Nori-san asked.

Azaki-san cringed a little. “That’s… not the wording I would use, but…”

“I mean, we should be cautious,” Tsutomu-san said. “We’re gonna have rough days while we’re here, and a support system would be good for everybody.”

“Yeah!” Fukuyama-san said. “Daily meetings are a perfect way to bond! It means we’ll grow closer as a class, and if we’re close, we won’t be thinking about—about doing drastic things.”

“I hate to pop everybody’s bubbles, but I’m not up for that,” Anchi-san said. “I didn’t sign up for Hope’s Peak to be all buddy-buddy with everybody, I came to keep working on my talent. So that’s what I’ll be doing here.”

“Anchi-san, this is in the interest of the class as a whole,” Azaki-san said.

“Did you miss what I _just_ said?” Anchi-san said with a scowl. “I don’t care about the _class,_ I care about _me!_ You guys can do whatever the fuck you want, and I’ll do whatever the fuck _I_ want.”

With that, she made her exit.

“…Well, nothing’s perfect,” Carmeil-san said eventually.

“Yes, thank you for that _astute_ observation, Carmeil-san,” Nakasone-san groaned.

“Anyway,” Azaki-san said. “Where and when should we meet?”

“How about in the cafeteria?” Ichihara-san suggested. “We could have breakfast meetings when we all get up.”

“The cafeteria sounds nice,” Sou-san said. “Nothing seems quite as bad over hot food.”

“I like that idea too!” I said. “It makes sense, since we’ll all be going there anyways!”

“Alright,” Azaki-san nodded. “All in favour?”

The class murmured their assent with various levels of enthusiasm.

“Then it’s settled,” Azaki-san said. “Let’s aim for meeting at around 8 AM. That should give everyone enough time to get dressed and ready for the day. For now, I suggest we all try to relax. We can’t perform at our best when our thoughts are still clouded by our meeting with Nanami.”

Nobody had a problem with that. Big surprise.

“So, make of today what you will,” she finished. “We’ll meet tomorrow in the cafeteria at 8 AM.”

We all split off, going our own ways.

Me, I went back to my room. My head was spinning trying to absorb all of the information that Nanami and Azaki-san and everyone had given out today, as well as my own feelings. This whole ordeal was crazy! We were trapped here, by a deranged lunatic of a girl who expected us to _kill_ one another if we wanted to escape? It was mind-boggling to think about even as a hypothetical! To have to think about it and know it was _real_ was insane bordering on majorly distressful.

I got to my room and locked the door behind me, looking forlornly at my bed. Even this _bed_ was unfamiliar. I wasn’t used to a bed, especially not one that was decked out with a soft mattress, fluffy pillows, and super-comfy sheets and blankets. I was used to a shitty carpet with a bunch of holes and stains from its previous owners on top of a concrete floor, with a sweater for a pillow. If this was anywhere else, I would be in heaven in that bed. But here, it was a reminder of my captivity. I was being held against my will in this lodge, and no measure of comfort would change that fact.

Feeling emotionally drained, I took off my sweater, rolled it up into a pillow, and laid it down on the hard-wood floor. I briefly considered taking down the curtains off one of the windows and using that as my mattress, but the floor turned out to be heated, so even though it was hard, it would at least keep me warm while I slept. So I just laid down on the floor, tucked my sweater under my head, and tried to go to sleep.

…

…

**_Ding, dong, ding, dong…_ **

**“Hey hey, everyone! This is an announcement from the Hope’s Peak Lodge and Resort Management Office! It is now 10 PM. Night Time begins now. In a few minutes the cafeteria will be locked, and it is forbidden to enter! Please rest well, everyone. Pleasant dreams…”**

I was woken up by that voice over the intercom. It took me a few seconds to register what I was hearing, but when I realised it was Nanami's voice, I immediately jolted upright, my heart racing. I looked up at the monitor, and saw that now Nanami was sitting in that armchair, smiling and holding what looked like a cup of hot chocolate in her hands. If it weren’t for that hoodie she was wearing, or the too-wide smile on her face, I could almost call the image cozy.

The monitor turned off, and I fell back onto my sweater, trying to slow my breathing. “It was just the monitor, it was just the monitor, just the monitor, she isn’t in here, she’s not in here, you’re safe, you’re perfectly safe, Ami, you’re okay, you’re okay, you’re okay…”

I managed to slow my breathing. But I didn’t manage to keep it together. I spent a good five minutes just sobbing into my sweater, letting out all the pent-up emotions I’d felt throughout the day. It felt cathartic, at least, but being sad never felt good.

Just as I was finishing up, somebody knocked at the door. “Wh—Who is it?” I choked.

“I-It’s Fukuyama.”

Fukuyama-san? What was he doing here?

“H-Hold on a sec,” I said, wiping my eyes. “I just need a second.”

I pulled my sweater back on, trying to not look like I’d been sleeping on the floor for the past… however long, and opened the door. “Hey, Fukuyama-san.”

“Hiya, Chiba-san,” he said, looking at me with a worried frown. “Are you okay?”

I tried to laugh, but it came out more like a hiccup. “N-no, not really. What’s up?”

“Oh, um…” He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. “I was coming over to see how you were. You sort of just went straight back here after we finished our meeting.”

“Yeah,” I nodded, wiping at my eyes again. “It was a lot to take in.”

“I know what you mean,” he said. “…If you wanna talk about anything—my door’s always open.”

“R-Really?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “You seem like good company. And, to be honest, I’m pretty freaked out myself. I’ve spent all of dinner hearing Nakasone-kun give his doomsday spiel about what Nanami's gonna do to us, and it’s got me down.”

“That’s gotta suck.”

“Big-time. But I figured you probably would be a bit more of a positive influence than he is.”

I managed to actually laugh this time. “Yeah. I would hope so. He’s got the pessimism market cornered.”

“For sure,” he laughed. “So… yeah. I’m free whenever you want to talk, okay?”

“Thanks, Fukuyama-san,” I smiled. “I’m probably gonna need that.”

“Any time, Chiba-san,” he smiled back. “I hope we can become friends.”

“Me too.”

He nodded. “Alright. …Um, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I guess so. See you then.”

He nodded again, and slowly left the hall.

I shut the door and turned the lock, smiling to myself. That was really great of Fukuyama-san to do that for me. He didn’t have to offer his ear to my problems, but he did anyway. He seemed to actually care about me, and about the rest of us.

That was a nice thought to hold onto as I went back to sleep.

 

* * *

 

**_PROLOGUE: REMASTERING ULTIMATE ACQUAINTANCE_ **

**_END_ **

**_STUDENTS REMAINING: 16_ **

 

* * *

 

**NANAMI THEATRE**

 

“A lot of people ask me why I decided to replace Monokuma.”

“They say, he was doing just fine! Why are you replacing him halfway into his career?”

“To which I say, you people have obviously remembered nothing about Monokuma.”

“He’s a bear, right? Bears are living beings just like us! They get tired too!”

“And that’s not even covering the most obvious reason that I was asked to replace him as mascot this year!”

“It’s winter! Bears hibernate in the winter!”

“Of course, Monokuma doesn’t hibernate, but they don’t have to know that!”

“All that matters is that he’s on vacation and I’m running this show until further notice!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I turned my favourite cinnamon roll of all time into the bad guy.
> 
> Nobody is safe.
> 
> Not even me.
> 
>  
> 
> Also, Free Time Events are now open to vote on! This chapter has 5 slots open, so please, send in your choices!


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